


Shaking the wings of their terrible youths

by RainbowLSparrow



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Fluff, I Wrote This While Listening to Hozier's Music, I cried while translating this, Lamen Week, Lamen Week 2020, M/M, Post-The Summer Palace, Romantic Fluff, Shaking the wings of their terrible youths, Song: Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene (Hozier), The Summer Palace, Title from a Hozier Song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowLSparrow/pseuds/RainbowLSparrow
Summary: Story written for the first day of Lamen WeekDay 1. Summer Palace"He handed him the reins, lingering a few seconds longer in that light contact.Finger to finger. Their skin touching. God, how he loved that feeling!Damen smiled. Laurent couldn't see him, yet he smiled at him reflexively. He didn't need to see him to know about that smile. They were together in that bubble of happiness that was just them. "
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Shaking the wings of their terrible youths

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Shaking the wings of their terrible youths](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023010) by [RainbowLSparrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowLSparrow/pseuds/RainbowLSparrow). 



"If I can move tomorrow, we'll go riding!"

Those words had been spoken lazily by Laurent the day before while they were still in bed. But he already knew that he would not resist that proposal.

In fact, the next day, as soon as he woke up before he could even have breakfast he had proved rather impatient at the prospect of a horse ride through the palace gardens.

The day before, as soon as he arrived at the Summer Palace, he had headed almost immediately to the east wing, which faced the coastal road, to await the royal procession, where he could have a better view.

To welcome Damen!

He had therefore not had the opportunity to fully explore the grandeur of that estate. The magnificence of the gardens expertly designed by Queen Egeria, by Damen's mother.

He had visited a small part of it, with an exceptional guide, and yet he already felt ecstatic at the idea of a complete tour of those gardens on horseback escorted by Damen.

The day before, he had sensed from the tone he had assumed while proposing that horse ride, that he should have expected some surprise.

Damen had tried in every way to pronounce every single word of that sentence, trying to keep a natural tone, as if he didn't want to make him understand that he was hiding something.

He had pretended to throw that sentence out at that moment, making it seem like a coincidence.

Unfortunately for him, however, it was almost always impossible to take Laurent totally by surprise.

But when that morning, just before dawn, Damen led him to the stables, told him to wait for him outside, came out shortly after holding the reins of a majestic mare and gifted it to him, he must admit that he was a little surprised.

His heart was full of joy!

As a prince, he was used to receiving far greater gifts, yet at that moment, that majestic mare and Damen's happy smile were the most beautiful gifts he had ever been given in his life.

Joy took hold of him and drove him to abandon all inhibitions and to kiss his future husband on impulse.

With him, he could afford to do that!

He could allow himself to act guided by emotions alone, abandoning rationality, and any kind of inhibitory restraint.

It was a luxury he couldn't afford with anyone other than himself.

Especially now that he was so close to being crowned king.

All this was a new experience, for a person like him, who had spent his entire life up to that moment, trying to be ten steps ahead of everyone, in order to always be in control of everything.

Now he was free!

Finally, he could be happy too!

To be so, it was enough for him to observe Damen's happy smile and perceive from his every gesture, from his every look, from his every word, that he loved him as much as he did, that his love was fully reciprocated.

Damen helps him mount. He didn't really need it, but it was nice to be pampered by Damen's attentions.

As soon as he was in the saddle, he went back into the stable to fetch his horse, leaving him there to get acquainted with his new mare.

He could finally say he was happy!

As soon as he saw him come out of the stables with his horse, Laurent spoke to him.

"Where are you taking me?"

Laurent's voice rang cheerfully in the dim light of dawn.

"Shall we take a tour of the gardens?"

They would go, sure, Damen thought, but it wasn't time yet.

"We'll go there! But first, I have to show you another place!"

Laurent's face lit up in a smile.

Damen had never seen him, so full of expectations and positivity.

At that moment he fully showed his young age.

"Another surprise yet?"

He could see it clearly, a young man of barely twenty, suddenly experiencing happiness after a life of repression.

"Yup!"

No other words were needed at that moment, if not

"Laurent! Do you trust me?"

Those words came out of his mouth with a serious tone and... It was more a rhetorical question, but the other answered him anyway.

"Yup!"

A sweet and meaningful statement!

"Well! Then close your eyes!"

The calm on Laurent's face was ripped for a brief moment by a questioning grimace, it lasted the time of a second, but it was enough to allow Damen to understand, to have succeeded in his intent to surprise him.

And this was just the beginning!

After that brief moment of surprise, Laurent hurried to close his eyes.

Damen had his full trust!

He handed him the reins, lingering a few seconds longer in that light contact.

Finger to finger. Their skin touching. God, how he loved that feeling!

Damen smiled. Laurent couldn't see him, yet he smiled at him reflexively. He didn't need to see him to know about that smile. They were together in that bubble of happiness that was just them.

He let Damen guide him, relying on his other senses to figure out where they were headed.

The curiosity was a lot, but he didn't open his eyes even once during the journey.

He wanted to fully enjoy that sensation so new to him.

He had spent his entire life escaping it.

Before Damen, surprises were never something positive!

Suddenly he heard the sound of hooves trampling the ground, being replaced by the sound of hooves making contact with the water.

Damen, who until then had not uttered a word, for fear of ruining that perfect atmosphere, so full of expectation, broke the silence.

"You can open your eyes now!"

The surprise that awaited him once he opened his eyes made him remain unable to utter a word for some time.

A very strange thing, for a person like him, who usually had words for any occasion, in a wide variety of languages and dialects.

When he finally managed to speak, his voice vibrated with emotion.

"Where are we?"

It might have seemed like a stupid question, but it didn't seem to spark Damen's hilarity. When he turned to look at him, he saw only an indescribable sweetness in his gaze.

He could perceive, the love that the other felt for him and hoped with all his heart, that the other could feel that he was being reciprocated completely.

Damen invited him to join him. Moving in that place was a surreal experience and even the few steps that his mare took, to bring him closer to his lover, only increased that feeling of wonder that had by now possessed him.

As soon as he came to his side, Damen leaned over to grab his hand.

He let go of the bridle of his mount and laced his fingers with his. So warm and still.

His fingers, so pale in contrast to the dark ones that held them.

Damen took advantage of that moment, to bring Laurent's hand close to his face to gently kiss the back.

His warm lips in contact with the other's skin.

Laurent could feel them frowning in a smile as he kissed his skin.

"As a child I loved exploring!" his voice, little more than a whisper. "I used to sneak out of the palace walls in search of great adventures. It was during one of these little escapes of mine that I discovered this place! I have never shown it to a soul before ..."

The last sentence had been pronounced almost imperceptibly as if it had been fought up to a second before, whether to externalize it or not.

Embarrassed by the possible implications that could have that sentence, he turned his dark eyes away from the clear ones of Laurent, to fix them on the different shade of blue, in which they were immersed at that moment.

Laurent could perfectly understand that feeling. Since their relationship had begun, they had both tried it several times. It was strange for two people as strong and controlled as themselves to let go of their vulnerabilities. They were two rulers, they did not yet know how to manage their weaknesses and insecurities well.

He could imagine it, Damen who was still a child, awkward but astute, planning his escapes, looking for great adventures.

Who knows how many times since they had met he could have run away, yet he had remained there.

At first, for pure survival instinct, then as their relationship changed, of his own free will.

It was a choice, which he often failed to understand. Why stick with him after the way they met? After all the pain they caused each other, how could they love each other so much?

He couldn't explain it. Honestly, he probably didn't even want to find answers to those questions. He just wanted to experience that feeling freely. Without dissecting it, as he had always been used to.

Living like that was more than enough for him!

At that moment Laurent, he could not know, but Damen there beside him was immersed in exactly the same thoughts.

Suddenly they both ran out of their minds, from all that constant brooding over everything. Instead, they focused on the breathtaking landscape that lay before their eyes.

They were in a cove, surrounded by high rocky walls, which hid their view from prying eyes.

Laurent, couldn't understand how they got there. He could see no road, no passage, nothing at all. Wherever he was, he was very well hidden.

He kept looking around, amazed by so much beauty.

On the ground, the white sand, covered by a very low layer of water, hit by the light at a certain angle, created a very particular optical effect.

Leaving behind the high rocky walls and turning their gaze towards the infinite expanse of water, which stretched in front of them, one had the feeling of being suspended in midair. No distinction, between the sky above them and the water below them.

It wouldn't last much longer though. In fact, the effect was already wearing off. As the sun began to peek, across the stretch of water.

Damen leaned out of the horse and with his free hand, gently stroked Laurent's face, who turned to look at him.

"He's so beautiful!"

They both thought, in unison, of each other.

They kissed! A sweet, slow kiss.

It was Laurent who initiated it, taking Damen by surprise.

They had both been wanting that kiss for some time.

They broke away to catch their breath.

Laurent's light eyes in Damen's dark ones. A dangerous glint in the eye.

Then, just the time of a sly smile, Laurent set off at a gallop, headed for the sea.

It would not sink for a few hundred meters yet.

Damen stood there, stunned for a moment, staring at Laurent as he walked away.

He was magnificent!

He saw him move away, closer and closer to the rising sun. His golden hair and his regal bearing, to challenge the pride of the sun.

But there was also something wild about him, a freedom he had never had and a happiness, which had been denied him too early in life, which he was now painstakingly regaining possession of.

He almost seemed to fly in that ethereal landscape.

Damen also wanted to fly with him. Towards happiness!

He pushed his horse in pursuit.

When he came close to him, the sweet smile and tears of happiness, he felt complete.

There, at that moment, there were only two young people free and happy, ready to challenge the power of the rising sun.

_Together!_


End file.
